Thursday, October 07, 2010

Price of a Pint and its Implications

The Great Britain-wide average [for a pint of real ale bitter] was £2.80, a 4% rise on 2009. But this covers broad regional disparities, with the cheapest part of the country, the West Midlands, falling well short at £2.45 below the most expensive, Surrey, at £3.08.

According to the Guide's co-editor Fiona Stapley, the wide variation in prices reflects not just the socio-economic make-up of each area but also the levels of competition, the nature of their bars and the type of beer on offer.

"In areas where you have heavy concentrations of the big chains, the prices tend to be higher," she says. "In pubs which brew their own beer, prices are on average a third lower.

My sense is that pubs brewing their own beer in Oregon are no cheaper than regular pubs--though there is a wide variety of prices among both. The range seems to be $3.50-$5.50, and it doesn't matter if the vessel in question is a cheater pint or imperial. Five bucks does seem to be a bit of an important price point, though. If you are charging more than that, the beer either be very good (like Cascade's, at the Barrel House, or specialty beers at brewpubs) or super haute. I feel good when I'm paying less than four.

________________The Beeronomist is, coincidentally, stepping up his game. No longer will these posts be a focused subset from the Oregon Economics Blog; Beeronomics will now be a stand-alone blog with unique content. So go have a look.